Thursday, April 16, 2009

First, a disclaimer and then the swatches. Since these polishes are neon, they don't photograph true to life. I have not yet found a way to capture the true glow of a neon polish. They do weird things to my camera. I have tried my best to get the colors accurate, but these will look much, much brighter in real life.

I'm trying out different types of lighting for these, and a couple of them turned out pretty good. Some are taken in the shade or in a dark room, so that's why my skin looks grey... No, I am not a zombie. Yet.

Edit: Check out Siobhan's awesome swatches of this collection at The Nailphile!

Flirty Fuchsia. Neon pink. Sunlight pictures of neons never come out, I don't even know why I bothered. This pink has almost a touch of red to it- it's a deeper pink than Punchy Pink but it's just as bright!

Funky Limelight. Neon highlighter yellow. This is a true highlighter yellow. It's officially my new favorite yellow. This is retina-searingly bright, in fact, it gives me a bit of a headache just looking at it!

Perky Purple. Saturated neon purple. This might actually be my favorite type of color. No matter how many neon purples I own, I just never seem to get sick of them and always find myself wanting more! This is more of a deep purple in real life, but super bright. It's a lot like Essie Bermuda Shorts from last year's neons.

Punchy Pink. Uber-bright neon light pink. This is the lighter of the two pinks, and it seems more on the cool end of the spectrum. These pictures can not possibly portray how cool this polish is. It is ridiculous.

The formula on these is perfect. Thin, pigmented, smooth, totally flawless. I had zero application issues. These are right in line with the Zoya neons formula-wise. In fact, these are even thinner and smoother than the Zoyas, but not as opaque. They are slightly on the sheer side- one coat of polish lays down a lot of pigment but to build intensity you really need three coats. All of these pictures are three coats of polish with one coat of Seche Vite. Since it is the nature of neons to dry matte, you will need a topcoat if you want a glossy finish.

I am going to say it right now: Funky Limelight is the best neon yellow I own. It's the brightest, the smoothest, the least streaky and just plain incredible. Backup-worthy. I don't usually like to choose 'best' products because something better usually comes along, but no, this is THE. BEST. Period.

Overall, I am totally thrilled with these. Yes, these are pretty much your average neons, but they seem a lot brighter than most of the neons I own. The other thing that has me so excited about these is that, hello, they're ESSIE. Neons. Essie. Safe, sheer-pale-pink-nude Essie made these obscenely bright neons. Wrap your brain around that!

I would have liked to see a blue and green to round out the collection, but I can deal with just four awesome shades. I can't even see clearly because of the spots in my eyes from looking at these. It's like looking at the sun. Wicked.

68 comments:

Carly, I'm not the one who is mean here- you're the one who came to my blog to tell my my nail art was "awful" , "scary", "bad" and "sloppy." You were very rude and hurtful to me and I'd appreciate it if you could stop being so nasty. I don't really care if you don't like my designs, no one likes all the same things, but there was no need to be rude. You hurt my feelings.

Abigail, thank you :) I think it's so bright you could see it from the store across the street! ;-) And about the Essie Jello colors- I have no idea! This is the first I've heard of it, I am dying to know more!

As a nail blogger myself, I don't know if others know how hard it is to master nail art. For most of us, this isn't our day job, obviously, it's a hobby. I appreciate others' pictures and blogs because in general, we're taking time out of our lives to share something we really love. It seems really petty to have haters come out and talk trash.

But then again, I've been told in the past--"If you don't have haters, you're doing something wrong."

Scrangie, you're definitely on my top 3 nail blogs. I always look forward to your posts; the pictures are great and the commentary entertaining yet informative. Keep it up!

HELLO ESSIE...that highlighter yellow is in-freakin-sane. How many coats did you use? I remember reading at Nailphile that Siobhan used SEVEN coats...it looks pretty awesome, but SEVEN coats awesome?! I don't know if I have that kind of patience!

Scrangie I saw the other comments that were posted under my name that you did not appreciate and I totally agree. I think somebody hacked my account because that was not me! I don't know what else to say.

Scrangie, I can not express how much I love your blog. I'd been nail polish obsessed several years ago until discovering your blog and I'm back in action! lol

I swear, your swatches can have me convinced to buy every single color you wear lol.

Anyways, I'm a little dissappointed with the neons because I didn't feel like they were different enough, but hey, I guess there are only so many neons you can come up with lol. I think I'll have to get that high lighter yellow color . . .

Great swatches as usual Scrangie!I agree with Savannah; your swatches have me convinced to buy almost every single color you wear :D Keep it up, and don't let those very few haters get to you. I adore your blog :D

Oh! Funky Limelight is so bright that it looks totally harmful and offensive. :D I love it! But it would definitely makes my skin look like I'm dead (and just un-burried) so I won't make any attempt to purchase it.

While you were wearing all the neon colors have you tried to go on a room with a black light on? I'm sure Funky Limelight would look awesome under those lights, popping up like crazy.

By the way, Scrangie you'd be an unhappy girl here in my country (France). No Essie anywhere in stores (I knew about this brand - and many others - on your blog!), and OPI nailpolishes are very hard to find (needless to say the choice of colors is very reduced) and overall very pricey (15€ in general for a bottle which makes 20$ for a bottle). Happily, the internet is here.

And to finish, as soon as you're doing something well and have a faithful audience, you can't avoid haters I suppose. It's hurting I know but best is to ignore them. You should be sure many girls enjoy your blog. You're my favorite nail blogger! So to say!

Yes those Essie are pretty, that's what I think Essie misses I do feel most of their colors are drab (not sure that's the right word, that'd be terne in French) even their last blue collection was to me. But those are very pretty.

Great swatches, Scrangie! I used artificial light, and your natural light and shade pics mean we covered it all!

I'm astounded that anyone would be critical of your work here. You clearly put your best effort in, because your pics always reveal incredible results. If someone can't handle reading excellent reviews of the latest products with exceptional TTL pics, then she should go read one of the crappy blogs...

Scrangie your swatches are THE BEST hands down. I have a few others that I check every day but yours are my favorite and I am sure I am not alone here. ANYWHO....I am glad you did these. I saw them the other day when I was picking up some of the electro candy and I hesitated thinking they were too similar to the ones I had BUT seeing these changed my mind and I am going back tomorrow to get all of them :) YOU FRIGGIN ROCK!!!

Scrangie, I love your swatches of the neons, and have picked them up based on your pics...yes my addiction has been turned back on again.

I am so sorry that you have been targeted by haters. It seems that many bloggers, and frankly anyone who posts pictures, stories, or anything on the net will be targeted by someone with something nasty to say. While the net has given us lots of good (your blog and those of many of the other nail gals out there), it also gives a voice to those who are negative, nasty, jealous, and toxic. It is hard not to take their negative comments personally, and anyone with normal human emotions will be affected. Just remember that these people are unhappy members of society, no matter who they are or what they do, and contribute nothing of value to humanity when they make such comments. You on the other hand are sharing your enjoyment of a hobby with the world and that is a great thing to do. Keep up the fantastic work, as many of us appreciate you!

WOW I love these neon ones!! They are awesome. I just featured your blog in my latest post with images of a few of my favorite nail polishes. I wanted to let you know to see if you didn't mind. If you would like me to take it down just let me know :).Oh and ofcourse I gave you credit for all the images.

I love your blog and don;t let the haters get you down, they have no life and no idea what they are talking about.

Hey Scrangie...just wanted to say that I love your blog. I always find new colors I love on your blog. Anyway, I was wondering what the name of the OPI blue nail polish was that you used to compare the bottle size of the matte nail polishes on the March 30, 2009 post. I apologize if this question is late, I just really liked that color as I was reviewing your older posts.

Scrangie, I'm a newbie and find nailpolish application a bit hard, is Essie better than OPI? My polish goes on a bit thick and I get bubbles. Can you give me some tips please?I love your blog, please don't let haters get you down. I obsessively check your blog even when I'm travelling, and you have been partly responsible for my nail polish fixation. Even your pictures are perfect. Can I ask what topcoat you use?

woah, Scrangie I def need some more Essie in my collection.By the way, i'm not sure if you mentioned how many coats you had to put on, and if i did miss it it was because my eyes got seared by the colors. So Cool!

Yeah, I was wondering how come you could get away with simply 3 coats of Funky Limelight too?

Anyways, I must say that I've been an avid reader of your blog and I religiously check it out daily, in hope that you've got new swatches haha.

You provide the BEST swatches by far and no one even comes close IMO (no offence to anyone here). I'm often tied down by school assignments but all your vibrant pictures never fail to make me a happy kid again :D

Leveraging the “red hot” flavors and colors of the new gelatin flavors, JELL-O has teamed up with Essie® Cosmetics to launch two special nail polish colors – Strawberry Açaí (a rich, juicy berry shade) and Raspberry Goji (a deep cranberry/dark cherry color fusion), which will be exclusively available through the “Red Haute Flavors of Summer” contest. To participate, consumers can visit www.JELL-O.com/redhaute and enter a valid JELL-O UPC code to win the ultimate JELL-O “red haute” treat – a summer’s worth of manicures and tasty JELL-O gelatin to help keep cool during “haute” months. One grand prize will be awarded and 2,000 entrants will win one of the two limited-time polish colors, available only through this promotion. At www.essie.com, consumers can get the same “red haute” look with essie® nail colors in “A-List” and “Tomboy no More”.

Kunal, thank you so much! I'm pretty sure it's either Glamour or Fantasy... it might be Fantasy... it's the more holo of the two dark blue Designer Series polishes :)

Nitzan, thank you! These are similar, but they're much brighter than last year's neons- probably don't need both if you're not a neon lover!

Scott, thank you, you are a total sweetheart. Your wife is a lucky lady!

Nayanika, thank you! :) Applying polish perfectly takes practice, but it helps a lot to have only a tiny amount of polish on the brush and also to apply very thin coats. Also, don't blow on them or put them near a fan while they're wet because that can cause bubbles. I use Seche Vite topcoat :)

Kallima, thank you! I swear by Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, I can't live without it!

Hey scrangie, i recently purchased "Yell-OH!" from color club and would like to see how that compares to your funky limelight since u say its the ultimate neon yellow. I buy a lot of my polishes from looking at your swatches or from a few other swatchers/bloggers online, never really get to see them in person before i buy, so i would just like to see whats the diff between what i already have and if its worth it to get the funky limelight, if its that much different from yell-oh. Can you also put it up against misa "a sunny smile makes me go wild" and CC "volt of light" and maybe even CG "celtic sun" again, like one on each finger? Just want to get a good fluorescent neon yellow comparison once and for all to peep which is most opaque and glows more, and your just the gal to do it :) thanx

k, ill take your word for it and will pick it up if i see it or the next time im hauling, but ill still keep checking back for a neon yellow comparison cause its a fav color of mine. Hopefully u can get it in by the end of the year, lol. Thanx :)

I've been using Funky Limelight for a few weeks now, but have to repaint my nails every 2-3 days because the polish keeps peeling off. Not chipping, but the entire sheet of paint coming off in 1 piece. Does anyone have any advice in terms of what I need to do to keep this from happening? Are you experiencing the same issue? I've never experienced any other polish which acted this way. (I'm a long time Essie user and this doesn't happen with their other colors) Help!

Samantha, I have had that happen with other polishes and it was due to doing too many coats or using too much topcoat- that could be the case with your Funky Limelight :(

Suzy, yes, that is normal. I actually mentioned it in my post! All true neon polishes will always dry matte. It has to do with the neon pigment used to make them. A quick coat of topcoat will take care of that! You need some Seche Vite!

love love love the neons. i turned a corner at ulta last night and saw them and literally gasped out loud and crouched to examine them further. the best part was that they had just been put up in display, so they hadn't been picked through! i couldn't bring myself to buy all of them, though i wanted to, because i already have a neon purple that seemed a dupe and a neon pink, but i def bought "funky limelight". the only downside is, i had to use at least four coats to get really intense color. it dries pretty quick though, so i don't mind :) thank you for the swatches! i always check here before buying a color to see how it looks.